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COPD and Other Stuff This is a patient-to-patient blog to exchange information and resources…from COPD to Arthritis to Cellulites to Sarcoidosis to Sleep Apnea to RLS to Psoriasis to Support Groups to Caregivers and all points in between.

Tag Archives: therapies

It is about time! The Leicester
University researcher, Prof Chris
Brightling, Wellcome Senior Research
Fellow is leading a team on a five year EU quest to –
ultimately – individualize the COPDer treatment. Currently,
we’re pretty much given the same inhalers to help open our airways
for better breathing and most COPD inhalers were developed for
asthma patients – quite different from
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. (COPD)

I’ve taken many different inhalers over the years, none worked
well – for me – as my present three inhalers.

For example, I’ve been on the same inhalers about five years –
nothing newer or better has been developed and approved for use in
the United States. The last new inhaler I’ve taken for COPD
was initially an incredible boost to my lungs. The 24-hour
inhaler, Spiriva, recommended to take in the morning was so
powerful for me I took it at night and every morning was able to
exercise three hours or so before breakfast and taking my other
inhalers. Not everyone has the same reaction and some don’t
take it for various reasons – we’re all different. This is
the first time we’ve had research into our differences and I
applaud and thank them on behalf of future COPDers.

These days I take it in the morning as time and COPD march
on.

***********

“A Leicester University researcher is leading an international
team in the development of a tool to help tailor the treatment of
asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Prof Chris Brightling, Wellcome Senior Research Fellow at
Leicester University and an honorary consultant based at
Glenfield Hospital, is spearheading the five-year
EU project, dubbed AirPROM.

According to Leicester University, the project will create
computed and physical models of the whole airways system, to
help scientists and doctors predict how patients might
react to different treatments.

Damaged, inflamed or obstructed airways are common in people
with COPD and asthma, which makes breathing difficult. The current
methods to detect and treat these conditions do not always consider
individual differences in the airways that make each person unique.
As a consequence, people with these conditions may not
receive the most effective treatment.

While scientists are working on more advanced, targeted
approaches to treatment, they have been unable to match these
treatments to the right patients and explain the reasons behind
this.

The AirPROM research team will make a computed model of the
cells in an airway and a physical model of the airways, to assess
how air flows through the lungs and why it becomes obstructed in
people with asthma and COPD.

By using these unique models, along with existing data from
tests that measure lung capacity and highly detailed X-rays, known
as CT scans, the scientists will be able test new therapies, which
will enable them to tailor treatments to the individual.

The aim is to use this information to generate an extensive
database that will be able to link the characteristics of different
airways to a particular treatment in the future, helping health
professionals provide personalized treatment for people with COPD
and asthma.

These tools will also help scientists predict how the diseases
will progress and the effect on the airways, to help monitor the
future risk to patients.

Breda Flood, a patient with asthma and board member of
European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases
Patients Association, said: ‘This new model will help us
to visualize activity in our lungs and see how our illness affects
our breathing. By gaining an insight into how specific treatments
will work, patients will have a better understanding of how to
manage their condition in the future.’”

About This Blog

This is a patient to patient blog to exchange information and resources...from COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) to Arthritis to Cellulites to Sarcoidosis to Sleep Apnea to RLS to Psoriasis to Support Groups to Caregivers and all points in between. Written by Sharon O'Hara.